Report author Alison Rose reflects on the findings
Alison P. Rose
Manager, Standards and Measurement
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy
October 27, 2011 -- CECP has had the privilege of collecting corporate giving data since 2001. The last ten years have yielded a storehouse of information that illuminates the relationship between corporate giving and the macroeconomic and cultural factors that influence businesses and their communities.
In 2010, the looming threat of a double-dip recession and widespread unease about the future of global markets significantly affected those factors. With unemployment rates remaining high, many communities in the U.S. and abroad struggled to find their footing. Moreover, the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January was only one of several severe natural disasters that commanded an international response.
As 2010 was the third in a series of strained and uncertain years, this edition of Giving in Numbers not only presents a profile of corporate philanthropy in 2010, but also seeks to answer the pivotal question: How has corporate giving changed since the onset of the economic downturn? The multi-year analysis in the opening section of this report offers a short answer: Companies do not always move in tandem. While some have responded to community need at levels that far exceed their contribution levels in 2007, other companies have cut back.
In order to supplement the quantitative data, CECP is able to leverage its longstanding relationships with corporate members and add a qualitative dimension to this report. Personal conversations with leading CEOs, and discussions at CECP’s annual
Corporate Philanthropy Summit , have confirmed that greater societal need, the war for talent, and globalization are all significant forces that have shaped corporate community investment in recent years. Urgent hardship among their communities prompted many companies to apply above-budget resources toward supporting basic health and social service programs, as well as disaster-relief efforts. The competition to attract and retain talented employees has encouraged many more to offer innovative and meaningful employee-volunteer opportunities, including paid-release time and dynamic pro bono service programs. And corporate expansion has led to the creation of robust philanthropic initiatives in countries around the world.
In support of the global evolution of corporate philanthropy, CECP has also undertaken, with assistance from Deloitte, to reconcile the international discrepancies as to what constitutes “a charitable contribution.” The ambition of this project is to standardize the definition across borders so that when multi-national companies report on their global charitable giving, the repository of peer benchmarking data is that much clearer and more conducive to comparative analysis. CECP hopes that this resource will promote even greater international charitable giving and we look forward to sharing news of the project’s progress in the months ahead.
CECP warmly welcomes feedback on this edition of Giving in Numbers. As an organization committed to serving those on the front lines of serving their communities, we encourage any and all conversations toward understanding and navigating the challenges and opportunities before us.
